The Publication ofthe National Speakers AssociationVolume 12, Number 6MARCH 2018Speaker

Many thought leaders view social capital as the most important business currency, that of relationships and their inherent resources: trust, reciprocity, networking.
NSA’s annual national events are of great value. But monthly (and
often more frequent) chapter gatherings yield exponential social
capital. The more we’re together, the flusher our relational accounts.
Many of us say that our perennial favorite part of Influence is the
“hallway conversations.” So why not quadruple the banter all year long?
Don Thoren, CMC, CPAE, NSA’s national president in 1981–1982,
recently reminisced fondly about our Association’s early days
to current chapter presidents-elect and the Chapter Leadership
Committee. Don spoke of how he, Cavett Robert, CSP, CPAE, and
others hung out together and took care of one another. He said that relationships
are based on trust, and trust builds through collective investments of time.

Cavett underscored such in his famous toast, which he commonly o;ered:
“… may this sacred circle of love grow deeper and stronger … let’s keep this
circle of friends and never forget that life is our greatest gift.” Local chapter
bonds simply serve us better in this regard.

And if we truly subscribe to Cavett’s spirit, we’ll also seize opportunities to
give back. Chapters provide a plethora of them, including servant leadership,
mentoring, community outreach, and service for all tenures of NSA membership. As our most recent Cavett Award winner, Randy Pennington, CSP, CPAE,
says, they can even take the form of “episodic involvement,” such as swearing
in new chapter boards, one-on-one meetups, and the like.

So, grab a piece of chapter pie. There’s plenty!

Russ Riddle, JD
Chair, NSA Chapter Leadership Committee

COMMUNITY.

We’re virtually linked to
NSA members across
the country and all over
the world, whom we
see now and again. But
local in-person intimacy
forges far deeper bonds.